30, December 2020
Biya regime secures Economic Partnership Agreement with Britain 0
The United Kingdom and Cameroon have today secured an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that ensures mutual continuity of trade.
An agreement has been reached to roll over current EU-Cameroon trading arrangements from 1 January 2021.
The deal allows businesses to trade freely as they do now, without any additional barriers or tariffs, and provides a foundation to extend our trading relationship in future.
Total UK trade with Cameroon amounted to £200 million in 2019.
Top goods imports to the UK from Cameroon in 2019 were in fruit and nuts, mostly bananas (£27 million) and wood and wood products (£25 million). The UK market accounts for 12% of total exports of bananas from Cameroon and this agreement will maintain tariff-free market access to the UK. It also guarantees continued market access for UK exporters, who sold £51m in goods to Cameroon in 2019.
Minister for International Trade Ranil Jayawardena said:
The United Kingdom is committed to supporting developing countries by encouraging growth through trade. The preferential terms for their key exports, such as bananas, will support jobs and economic development in Cameroon, and make sure British consumers get the products they want.
Culled from www.gov.uk
6, January 2021
CPDM Crime Syndicate: Shareholders approve the premature dissolution of Messapresse 0
During the extraordinary general meeting held on December 16, 2020, the shareholders of Messapresse ruled in favor of the premature dissolution and the liquidation of the company which is the main newsagent in Cameroon. This decision follows a suggestion submitted by the administrative board during a meeting held barely a month earlier (November 30, 2020).
According to the official release published in that regard, the decision was prompted by the losses (estimated at XAF1.3 billion) being accumulated by Messapresse for six years now. This decision occurs barely one (1) year after the newsagent restarted distributing local newspapers in September 2019. Indeed, two years earlier, the company had stopped distributing such newspapers after French group Presstalis (the majority shareholder in Messapresse) decided to withdraw from the distribution of Cameroonian newspapers, 80% of which it claims are unsold.
When Messapresse decided to relaunch the distribution of local media, it did so without the expertise of Presstalis (that supplies it with foreign newspapers distributed in Cameroon). Also, some news companies had launched their distribution networks (after Messapresse stopped the distribution of local newspapers in 2017). They include state-owned media Cameroon Tribune and various private media. For Messapresse’s management, these distribution networks also contributed to the dissolution decisions.
Source: Business in Cameroon